


Ride: Chapter Eight

by babykid528, pinto_round_robin



Series: Ride [8]
Category: Star Trek RPF
Genre: Awkwardness, Comfort, Extreme Heights, M/M, Pining, Pinto Round Robin, Road Trips, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-04-02 03:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4043995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babykid528/pseuds/babykid528, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinto_round_robin/pseuds/pinto_round_robin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Here at the edge of all things...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ride: Chapter Eight

“Alright, we have some decisions to make,” Zach says from the passenger seat.

Chris shoots him a look before turning back to the road. They’ve worked their way through a good chunk of the fruit they bought already, and Chris’ softly growling stomach is telling him they’re due for a lunch stop soon.

“Like what?” He asks.

“Well, according to the map, we’re just about to hit Peach Springs, Arizona,” Zach tells him. “Which means there are three choices we can make.”

“Three—” Chris starts but cuts himself off. “Wait a minute! Were you looking at your phone again???”

Zach is quiet for a beat too long before he says, “There may or may not have miraculously been free WIFI at the place where we took our last bathroom break…”

“Seriously,” Chris deadpans. “Do I need to get that thing surgically removed from your hand or something?”

“Chris, that’s not important now,” Zach says, brushing him off.

Chris knows he’s being difficult about this 'no phone' rule, but it’s _his_ road trip. That Zach, welcome as he is, weaseled his way into. If Chris is going to spend however many days in a car with him, he expects Zach to be present. It’s not like he’s asking for much.

“Fine,” he says on a sigh, deciding it’s best to pick and choose his battles right now, especially since Zach’s mood is still newly improved. “What are the three choices we can make? After we eat lunch, of course.”

“Of course, after lunch,” Zach agrees, perking up in his seat, smiling like he was just declared the victor in the 2015 Road Trip iPhone Battle or something. Chris can’t help chuckling at the sight, much to his dismay.

“We’re in Grand Canyon territory now,” Zach says. “So we should figure out what we want to see and what we don’t want to see, right?”

“Yeah,” Chris agrees. “Definitely.”

Zach nods and continues, “So, Peach Springs is actually the capitol of the Hualapai Indian Reservation and the tribe has exclusive rights to Grand Canyon West on the West Rim of the National Park.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wikipedia,” Chris says, laughing.

He can’t tell if Zach is blushing or if he’s just sun and wind-burned from the ride.

“Shut up, this is interesting information,” he says, some defensiveness seeping into his tone.

“Right, of course,” Chris says, not sounding at all contrite. He grins though, hopefully encouragingly, and Zach seems appeased.

“Anyway,” Zach says, settling down in the passenger seat again, “Grand Canyon West is our first option. It’s about three and a half hours north from Route 66 in Peach Springs, so a little off our main path, but it’s home to the Grand Canyon Skywalk.”

Chris furrows his brow.

“The Skywalk?” he asks.

Zach nods, letting some of his excitement slip through his carefully, controlled mask.

“It’s that glass bridge that juts out over the Canyon so you can walk out on it like you’re floating on air,” he says.

Chris, quite frankly, is appalled by every word in that sentence.

“That sounds fucking _terrifying_ ,” he blurts.

Zach snort, “Well, yeah! Of course it does! That’s what makes it so exciting!”

“Zach,” Chris says wryly, “I hate to break it to you, but I think you and I might have different definitions of ‘exciting’ right now.”

“Fine, fine,” Zach says, waving his hand like it really is fine, but Chris catches an undercurrent of disappointment in his tone. “Option two is just east of Peach Springs, about twenty minutes, I think? The Grand Canyon Caverns. They’re also a popular attraction. The Caverns are a series of underground caves you can tour with a guide. They even have a room 200 feet below ground, _in a cavern_ , that you can spend the night in.”

“Where we can play-act Kirk and Spock on an alien planet?” Chris asks, teasing.

“Wow, Chris,” Zach says, leaning back in his seat. There’s a wickedness in his voice. “I didn’t know you were into roleplaying. How kinky.”

The laugh that bursts out of Chris is boisterous.

“Fuck you, Quinto,” Chris manages to gasp between laughs. “You _wish_ I would get kinky with you.”

The words kind of sit there between them for a moment. Impossibly hanging, though they should have blown away in the moving air. Chris can’t tell if it’s a change in himself, or in Zach, or in them both that suddenly creates and feeds the awkward silence that blankets them as the words hang. It’s heavy though, and it doesn’t go away until Chris clears his throat.

“Um,” he says, “What was the third option?”

Playing it off as nothing would be easier if it wasn’t so obviously _something._ There’s a timidness to Chris’ tone now, though.

He sounds all wrong.

A careful glance at Zach only makes things worse. He looks kind of like someone knocked his ice cream cone on the floor.

_Chris, you fucking idiot,_ Chris internally berates himself. _If it wasn’t bad enough that you’re torturing yourself being this close to him, alone, for this entire trip, you had to go and make things extra awkward. He’s probably thinking about sex and Miles now._ Again _. Worst friend ever._

“The, uh, third option,” Zach says, interrupting Chris’ thought diatribe, “is to just keep on driving until we get near Flagstaff, then we can swing off at Route 64 and head up to the Canyon that way.”

Chris thinks, letting the slightly less awkward silence descend on them as he watches the sign for Peach Springs growing nearer at the roadside.

“Which would you like most?” he asks, tentatively.

Zach kind of shrugs and Chris feels like a complete heel.

“Let’s check out the Skywalk,” he says, with more conviction.

Zach looks over at him and even in his peripheral, Chris can see the way the offer changes his demeanor from sullen to almost-happy again.

“But, Chris…” Zach starts and trails off.

Chris shakes his head.

“It's fine. I'm fine. I mean, how freaky can it really be, right?” he asks, smile only slightly forced.

\---

“Holy fuck,” Chris whispers, staring at the edge of the Canyon while Zach pays for their tickets, wishing he hadn’t eaten that entire burger and fries for lunch.

A mother, a little older than Chris and accompanied by two young children, glares at him, apparently having heard his language.

“Sorry,” he says, face heating.

She just shakes her head and moves her kids away.

“Here,” Zach says, passing him something as he rejoins him. “They want us to wear these little hospital bootie things over our shoes so the bridge doesn’t scratch or get gross.”

Chris nods, distracted, and takes the things from Zach.

Zach’s hand on his shoulder, grip solid, cuts through the fear fog in his brain and Chris turns his attention, fully, to Zach.

Zach looks at him, concerned, mouth tipped down in a semblance of a frown.

“Are you really okay with this?” he asks.

Chris takes a deep breath and releases it slowly.

“Yeah,” he promises, voice cracking only a little.

Zach grins at the sound and squeezes his shoulder.

“I didn’t think you were afraid of heights—”

Chris interrupts him with the shake of his head.

“I swear,” he says, “I’m really _not_. This is just. Extreme.”

Zach drops his hand from his shoulder and bumps their hips, a soft smile ghosting across the edges of his mouth.

“Don't think of it like that. Think of it as an adventure,” Zach says. “That’s what this whole trip is supposed to be, right?”

Chris ducks his chin to his chest and smiles at the dirt and sand under their shoes.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “That’s what this is about.”

“Good,” Zach tells him. “Let’s get these bootie things on then and go see the world from a different perspective.”

Chris looks at him then, unsure of how open his expression might be in that moment, and uncaring, honestly. Zach’s own masks seem to fall a little in response and they grin at one another before Chris nods.

“Let’s do this.”

They cover their shoes and approach the bridge together. Standing at the very edge, side-by-side – _on the verge of the tipping point, ready to take a leap_ – the obvious symbolism doesn’t escape Chris’ notice.

“I’m glad you’re here with me,” he whispers.

Zach breaths out a short laugh before saying, “Here at the end of all things?”

Chris can’t stop himself from laughing in return.

And then the Skywalk employee gives them the signal that they can enter.

Chris holds his breath and flexes his fingers at his sides. The back of his hand brushes against Zach’s, and before Chris can pull away, Zach is slotting their fingers together and holding on tight as they take that first step.

Chris’ heart leaps into his throat, but he keeps his eyes forward, on the bridge, on the Canyon, on the _incredible view_. He doesn’t look at Zach, he can’t. He just tightens his own hold on Zach’s hand, hanging on as they make their way across, his mind spinning with unsaid words and unspoken feelings.

He snorts a laugh at it all, unable to do anything else, and he takes comfort when he hears Zach mirror the sound as they keep moving forward.


End file.
